It’s time to start fining celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum and Lindsay Lohan, who plug products on social media without disclosing that they are paid endorsers, good government groups say.

“It’s time social-media influencers are held accountable for their actions,” Bonnie Patten, spokeswoman for Truth in Advertising told me.
“If some were fined, it would be a good deterrent. Right now, they are operating with impunity.”

The Federal Trade Commission recently sent letters out to 47 “influencers,” including J.Lo, Klum and Lohan, informing them of guidelines it published back in 2015, but the agency won’t even call these letters — sent “for educational purposes” — warnings.

Kristen Strader, a Public Citizen campaign coordinator, said, “They are not going to stop until there is some kind of consequence. These marketers and influencers have no reason to take these letters seriously.”

Lopez received a letter from the FTC after she posted a photo of herself in front of Beluga vodka bottles with the caption, “Birthday weekend in Vegas!! Thanks again @vodkabeluga #vodkabeluga.”

That phrasing, the FTC wrote, “does not sufficiently explain the nature of your relationship to the company; consumers could understand a ‘thank you’ simply to mean that you are a satisfied customer.”

“I think she got more than a bottle of vodka,” Strader said.

A guide the FTC published in 2015 says: “Starting a tweet with ‘Ad:’ or ‘#ad’ — which takes only 3 characters — would likely be effective.”